


Time Flies When You Are Having Fun

by impossiblytenaciouswitch



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Drinking, F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi, Romance, Sex, relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-11
Updated: 2014-12-11
Packaged: 2018-03-01 02:29:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2756216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/impossiblytenaciouswitch/pseuds/impossiblytenaciouswitch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Moving away to university forces some students to explore parts of themselves they never expected to see as they make the transition to from teenager to adult, whilst having to navigate academic life.</p><p>This is told in three POVs: Levi, Marco and Armin, and is an extension of my previous story "That One Evening"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Time Flies When You Are Having Fun

God, getting everything prepared for the start of term was always such a pain. All these forms, and all these new students bothering him all the time. Why did he have to do this shit anyway, all he wanted to do was research. Damn university. He glared at a stack of neatly piled papers.

"Glaring at them won't get them done, Levi."

"No shit."

Levi picked up his cup in one hand, and sipping it, grabbed the topmost sheet of paper, grumpily slapping it on the table. Erwin chuckled. The two shared an office - it was pretty large, but would've been larger if it weren't for the floor-to ceiling bookshelves on two of the walls, and the two large desks in the middle of the room. It was an odd layout, but worked well for both of them.

"I just wish most of those little shits didn't bother coming. All they do is throw up on street corners and scrape through their exams. It's disgusting. What's the point of coming to university if you can't give a fuck?"

"They aren't that bad."

Levi didn't reply, instead scribbling on the paper and slamming it on another pile, cautiously straightening it until it was tidy. Some students were alright. They worked hard, took an interest in the subject, but other's...at least he still had Fresher's week before he had to teach.  He had no tolerance for time wasters.

He sighed, placed his pen neatly in its holder and stood up.

"I need a shit."

* * *

He stood, key clenched tightly in his hand, taking in the small room. It was dire. The walls were painted what he supposed was originally white, but they had gone slightly grey and patchy over the years. There was a reasonably sized window on the wall opposite the door, but on closer inspection he discovered that it only went up so far before getting stuck. After a few minutes struggling he managed to drag it closed again, letting out a loud bang as it hit the bottom sill. The only furniture in the room was a single bed, a tiny wardrobe and a built-in desk, and what little floorspace (a really god-awful yellow (why?) carpet) there was taken up by bags and boxes full of his stuff.

So this was going to be his home for the next year. Marco let out a deep sigh. At least he'd brought posters, and once all his stuff was packed away it would feel a lot more like home. He looked down at his stuff. This was going to take a while.

A knock at his door made him jump. It was open, and a tall, broad blond stood there. He looked kind of threatening, even with a smile.

"Hey mate, I have the room next door. Name's Reiner."

"Marco."

They shook hands. His hands were broad and rough. Marco was wondering if he was a rugby player, he definitely had the physique for it.

"So what you here for?"

"English Literature. You?"

"Engineering, same as this dude."

Reiner gestured at the open door opposite Marco's. As he did so a dark-haired guy appeared holding a rather large potted plant. He grinned.

"Bertholdt."

_Bloody hell he's tall._

He shifted the weight of the plant to one hand and stretched out the other. Marco took it gladly.

"Marco."

So far his new flatmates seemed alright. Bertholdt vanished into his room again, only to reappear moments later sans plant.

"Fresher's is going to be epic!"

"Yeah yeah, and the pirate night is gonna be hilarious!"

They all laughed together.

"Anyway, still got loads of shit to unpack."

Reiner left bumping fists with Bertholdt, and slapping Marco on the shoulder. Still avoiding his own unpacking, Marco poked his head into the kitchen - an equally dire room with a miniscule table barely big enough for two - wondering what the rest of his flatmates were going to be like. He set off down the corridor in search of the bathroom and showers.

Each floor was split into two flats, with two bathrooms (one male, one female) in between them - if you could call it a bathroom. Walking in you'd think it was a public toilet; two sinks lined one wall, and four cubicles line the other. Two of these cubicles were showers. Sharing a kitchen was one thing, but Marco was not looking forward to sharing the toilets with a group of guys. Especially those showers with their pretty thin doors.

As he was walking out, he came face to face with two other boys. Both were shorter than him, but the blond one was tiny in comparison. The taller one spoke almost immediately.

 "Are you in 3B? We were just coming over to see who were going to be our neighbours."

Marco nodded.

"I'm Eren, and this is Armin."

The kid gestured at the blond, who made a small wave.

"Marco."

"So what are you studying?"

These two were very different from Reiner and Bertholdt. Not that there was anything wrong with them, but their size did make them a bit intimidating. Marco tried to wrap his head around the fact  that those two giants were the same age as the two in front of him now. Somehow it didn't seem possible, even if they'd had gap years.

"English Lit."

Technically he was studying it as a joint honours with creative writing, but it was so much easier to just say the first part, since a lot of people didn't really see creative writing as suitable academic enough to be a university degree subject.

This time the blonde, Armin, was the one to speak.

"Are you doing the pre-medieval texts module? I'm doing History, but I'm taking it as an optional module."

Marco nodded, smiling. Well at least he'd know one other person in lectures, and the Armin kid seemed like a nice guy.

He looked at Eren, who had one of the most open faces he'd ever seen.

"I'm doing art...well, graphic design, but you know."

"Oh cool, you're an artist!"

Eren shrugged.

"Meh, a little."

Armin nudged his shoulder.

"Shut up, you're amazing!"

Dodging the compliment, he looked back at Marco.

"So what are your flatmates like? We've only met two others in ours, Jean and Mikasa - she's an exchange student from Japan."

"Oh wow! Ah we're all guys at the moment, but I don't think everyone's here yet either. But Reiner and Bertholdt seem nice. Come on."

He gestured to the two to follow him through the open door of 3B.

As they walked in, a huge crash erupted from the kitchen making the three of them jump.

"What the hell?"

Reiner appeared out of his door, followed by Bertholdt, both of them holding beers.

The five of them approached the kitchen door and, peering round, saw a short kid with a buzz cut stood amongst a pile of pots and pans. He saw them and shrugged his shoulders.

"Ooops! Sorry!"

Bertholdt stepped into the room and placing his beer on the counter, started helping him pick up the pans.

"What happened?"

"Ummmm...so they were on the counter and I accidentally knocked them off."

One he and Bertholdt had put the pans away, the kid looked over at Marco, Armin and Eren.

"I'm Connie, by the way. I already know these two." He gestured at Reiner and Bertholdt.

They introduced themselves, with Eren saying that he and Armin were in the flat across the hall. The usual questions concerning their chosen subjects, where they were from etc etc were reeled off. Marco couldn't help but feel this was going to get old really quickly. It was nice meeting everyone, but having to repeat the same questions and answers every time you met someone was really frustrating.

Reiner offered them all beers, which they all accepted gladly. Marco looked round at the small crowd of people. It was going to be in interesting week. but at least it was starting to feel a little bit like home.

* * *

"Whoa, how come you've unpacked everything already?"

Armin looked up from his desk where he was attempting to connect to the internet. The first thing he'd done when he'd gotten all of things from the car was to put it all away, and now the small room was slightly warmer and surprisingly comfortable. Books were piled on the single shelf, a new lamp cast a warm glow around his room, and his bed was neatly made. A few posters and pictures were tacked to the walls.

Eren threw himself onto the bed.

"I still can't believe we ended up in the same flat, what even were the chances?"

"Practically non-existent."

Armin and Eren had known each other since they were kids, a fact which had had no influence on their university choice, but he was glad that he was able to live with his best friend. He had no doubt that he would make new friends, but he would have missed that green-eyed dork, and it was some comfort having him there to help him navigate this rather daunting place.

"Armin, your still doing that philosophy module yeah?"

"Yeah, you are right? I wouldn't have thought you'd take something so academic."

"I dunno it sounds alright. I mean, it is only one module right?"

Eren had never been that academic, and had always preferred subjects which were more hands on like art or home economics. Armin on the other hand had always loved reading into subjects he found interesting, and essay writing was one of his strongest points. He had been incredibly surprised when Eren had decided to take on the same philosophy module as one of this optional choices.

Eren sat up eagerly.

"Do you think there will be many cute girls? I hope there are!"

"I'm pretty sure most girls are cute."

Eren laughed.

"Yeah, even you might get a girlfriend! Though..." he scratched the back of his head in thought. "Didn't you really like that girl in class last year? I still don't get why you turned her down."

Armin shrugged and looked away.

"I don't know, I just wasn't ready I guess."

"Ready for what? It's not like you were going to have sex on the first date!"

Armin shook his head hurridly.

"No no, that sort of thing doesn't really bother me, I mean if you want to then why not, you know? I just...entering a relationship seems like a big deal, and I just don't know if I'm quite ready for that kind of commitment."

"Hmm I guess."

Armin leaned down to place his fresher's welcome pack in the bottom drawer of his desk. It was difficult to explain, and he didn't really understand himself. Eren was the last person to understand, he had had plenty of relationships over the years - some lasting weeks, others lasting over a year. It would be nice to have that kind of ease, but no matter how  he looked at it, he just couldn't do it. He had so many things he wanted to do himself, and a relationship just didn't feature into it. If he dated someone now, then there would be a strong chance it wouldn't work out. So then what was the point? Anyway, romantic stuff was fine if it was happening to other people. He just found it uncomfortable.

But maybe Eren was right? Maybe, in this environment, he would meet someone. Maybe he just hadn't met the right person yet?

"Yo, we should go see who's living next door!"

Eren's voice startled him out of his reverie. He stood, switching off his laptop as he did so.

"Yeah, I wonder what they will be like."

Just as he stopped to lock his door on the way out, a figure appeared out of the room next to him. He was pretty tall and wore a slouchy hat over his light brown hair. He looked annoyed, and the cause of his annoyance came in the shape of an older woman who followed him out of the room.

"Please do call us at some point Jean, it would be nice to know how you are getting along."

The guy looked at Armin and Eren and rolled his eyes.

"Yeah yeah mum, just stop nagging."

His mother noticed the other two and beamed at them.

"He's always such a grouch," She lightly whacked him on the side of his head, earning a small " _ow! really ma?"_ from her son, "don't let him fool you into thinking he's some bad boy!"

"Oh god! Please just go!"

She grabbed a resisting son and planted a kiss on his cheek.

"Your father's waiting in the car, so we'll be off!"

Pinching his cheek, she walked away, leaving her son muttering under his breath. When she was gone, he turned to Armin and Eren.

"Name's Jean, and if you say a word of this to anyone-"

"You'll what, tough guy?"

"Just don't, okay. She's embarrassing."

Armin looked at Eren. His expression was darkening. Jean had picked up on the animosity and was glaring back.

"What's your problem kid?"

"You really shouldn't treat your mum like that. "

Jean huffed.

"Whatever."

He and Jean were glaring at each other. Eren had lost his mother a few years ago, so it was no surprise to Armin that he was reacting badly to Jean's attitude. He cleared his throat loudly to break the tension.

"We were just going to see who's next door. I'm Armin by the way, and this is Eren."

Jean grunted and vanished back into his room, with Armin dragging Eren away before he said anything to aggravate the situation. They were going to have to live together after all. He sighed inwardly. Hopefully this was just a false start, and he wouldn't have to live with these two bickering for an entire year.

 


End file.
